Making the V7 more “Rough” A scrambler/adventure bike journey

[OCEANIC]

We live in a world of instant gratification so just in case this ever grows to be a bit longer than a couple pages I’ll always try to keep the most current iteration of the bike here to compare with the starting point. A “Then and now.” If you will…


Then


Now

[OCEANIC]

So here’s the bike the day it showed up at the end of 2023. Under 1k miles and in immaculate condition.


I’m particular about the way my bikes look so I needed to tweak it a little to get the proportions and vibe right. The rear just seemed too low and it bothered me, so the first thing I got was a new set of longer Hagons. Stock is 350mm these Nitro Hagons are 370mm. Improved the line of the bike a bit. I took off quite a few of the parts the previous owner had added and got things a little more tidy looking. (If anyone wants the hand guards, Stucchi crash bars, or Agostini skid plate please DM me)

At this point I had put about 200 miles on the bike. Then right in the beginning of Feb 2024 it was stolen from my then girlfriend’s driveway. It was the only evening it had ever spent not in a garage. :(

Months later I payed the police department to get my stolen bike out of a tow yard. I didn’t have the heart to take pictures at the time so I’ll just have to describe it: The thief had wired in a switch to bypass the ignition, it was stuffed with chunks of sod, muddy, rusting in spots, the tank was dented where the asshole had used a pry bar to try to remove the locking gas cap and another tank dent showed where the right fork and bars had impacted it after snapping off the steering stop, it had obviously been dropped, the right valve cover had been used to surf some pavement, the rear shaft boot was ripped (how would that even happen?), the mirrors had been broken or ripped of by crashes, and the brake and clutch levers were pointing interesting directions. The gauge was lit up like a Christmas tree with all the warnings, it felt like the clutch was slipping bad, and the tires were severely worn. It also had an extra 700 miles on the odometer for good measure! After speaking with detectives it had apparently been involved in two high speed police chases and escaped both times…

Buuuuut I had it back! I honestly never thought I would see the bike again. It ran. But not well. I had a lot going on in my life around that moment, so the bike got stuffed in the garage and off my mind for a while.

 I usually do my own wrenching but there was some pain and emotion in this bike being taken from me and treated so poorly. It felt terrible. I decided to take the bike to the dealer, it hurt less. They went about leisurely replacing the wiring, removing the rear end to repair and replace things, it got a new ignition and keyset. They ended up keeping the bike for 4 months! Dealer repair price was within reason and I must say that Guzzi parts are cheap! I also took the bike to GuzziTech for a once over so that I felt good about someone knowledgeable going over everything to make sure I didn’t  miss anything and I could be back to a reliable bike and closer to how it was before all the chaos.

[OCEANIC]

Here’s a pick of it somewhat torn down getting ready for lower triple repair and new tires. (I was surprised to find out I had to remove the exhaust, rear caliper, the left shock, and part of the cargo rack just to remove the rear tire!)










After all the dealer repairs there were still some issues; I bought a new tank but I couldn’t consider putting it on before repairing or replacing the lower triple. I didn’t have any luck sourcing a used triple in decent condition (they all had a sheared stop) and a new one runs around $300 so I just decided to repair the one on the bike for the sake of time and to save some coin. I used stainless hardware and some nylon bushings and it works and feels great. :)

[OCEANIC]

The old worn stock tires next to the new 1 size larger Michelin Anakee Wilds.
Front 120/80/18
Rear 140/80/17


Realizing what’s involved with changing a tire on the V7 I decided tubeless would be the way to go. Seems a lot of folks are going this route, and I’m willing to try it, as I really don’t want to have to dismount a tire on the trail or side of the road.

I cleaned everything up, adjusted the spokes, trued the wheels, and sealed the inner spoke holes with black 3M 4000 marine sealant (I’m a captain and don’t like 5200 as it’s not as flexible and too permanent) after the 4000 cured I went over it with the 3M Extreme sealing tape in 1” width for the front and 1.5” width for the rear wheel. Bam! Tubeless spoked wheels!!! Tire plugs and a pump and I’ll be rolling again and hopefully avoiding a full rear disassembly!


Stupid me not realizing I had bought a Bias Ply tire! Turns out this front size doesn’t come in a radial… Well that sucks. But I still gotta ride, so I shoved a tube in it and called it a day. Ever onward!


This is the rear 140/80/17 mounted in the rear swing arm. This is about as big as we can go without cutting and welding folks! With the valve stem removed and no air in the tire, I had to lube the sidewall and squeeze it to slide it past the cush drive cogs and into place. But once mounted and inflated it fits with a couple mm of clearance from the right side of the swing arm.

[OCEANIC]

With the already 20mm longer rear shocks and now a size larger tires, the bike was really starting to lean!


So I quickly fabricated a riser pad for the kick stand. Probably took about 30-45mins with my buddies breathing down my neck to fab this up. Cut it out of a 1” block of black delrin, a scrap of sheet aluminum, and a few stainless hex bolts.






But it works! Definitely a lil rough around the edges, but we needed to hit the road and desert, and at least now my bike wouldn’t sink and fall over in the sand!

[OCEANIC]

Some glamor shots with the new tires and stance. Love the way this bike looks now! I’d say it has more than an extra inch of clearance at this point.






Out in natural habitat playing with it’s friends! Of these 4 bikes I’d say the V7 did 2nd best. The Africa Twin on Kenda big Blocks took 1st place and ate everything we came across, the V7 with Anakee Wilds did great and was the lightest bike, the Triumph did quite well with its MotOz GPSs and he really came into his own when he cranked up his steering damper, and the GS1200 on Shinko 705s was a real handful in the deep sand with less aggressive tread and all it’s weight. He went down half a dozen times!


And a stop at one of my favorite Cantinas! ¡Viva la mariachi!

I’m loving the bike now, it was in perfect showroom condition when I first got it and after it was stolen I was pretty bummed about everything to say the least. But now it’s a bike I can ride and not worry about a little scratch or nick and I can push the V7 to some places that most people won’t take theirs. That’s more in line with who I am and my style anyways.

Gonna share more mods and adventures with you as the bike progresses. I’ve got a list of modest fab projects and some exciting plans ahead to make the Rough as capable and adventure ready as I can make it!

- Ian

[Pescatore]

Well, great example of silver lining.
Wish you lots of fun.

[Turin]

I'm not a V7 fan, but that looks like a fun ride!

[twowheeladdict]

The V7 is about as close as you can get to a 1970s Universal Japanese Motorcycle  (UJM) these days.  It can be used from off road to race track, and from sport to touring.  Good job making it to your taste in motorcycles.
 

[DEO]

Hi,
Great job bringing her back from hell. Did you notice any change in handling with the taller rear shocks? Reason being is you change the rake angle slightly when you make that change. Just curious and best of luck.
Dave

[OCEANIC]

The rear felt a lot more firm and planted when going over bumps in turns at high speed, but I’m pretty sure that was the result of the better shocks not increased rake.

I brought the forks up in the triples about 10mm when I did the rear shocks, even further exaggerating the rake, and I could definitely push the bike. (I’ve since moved the forks all the way down in the triples to maximize clearance.) My seat of the pants impression is that it improved the handling but I’m not a seasoned racer nor a bike badass who pushes super hard to be finding and refining the edges of all the changes I make so take that with grain of salt.

 I was more going for a stance that looked right and just riding it. I would be curious to know what angle of rake best suits the handling of the V7, and how or if that that changes with ride height? I know that when I got the bike the rake looked wrong and more bobber than I imagined, so I changed it.